


On the Hunt

by koanju (verstehen)



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Gen, Revolution 1x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-17
Updated: 2012-10-17
Packaged: 2017-11-16 12:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/539440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verstehen/pseuds/koanju
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What’s your brother like?” Nora asked quietly, dropping down to sit next to Charlie by the fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Hunt

“What’s your brother like?” Nora asked quietly, dropping down to sit next to Charlie by the fire. The moment was slower and more painful than she’d like; the knife wound had been stitched, cleaned and bandaged as quickly as possible by Aaron but she could still feel the pull in each movement and when she checked it in the morning Nora was a little afraid she was starting to smell rot. They couldn’t afford to stop yet and it wasn’t like there was a handy supply of antibiotics anywhere even if they could.

“Why do you want to know?” Charlie didn’t look away from the fire where the two squirrels she had hunted were cooking.

“You wouldn’t be doing this just because he’s family,” she pointed out, gingerly cupping her side with her arm. “You wouldn’t do this for Miles and he’s your family.”

Her eyes cut away from the fire and out toward the woods Miles had disappeared into before looking back down at Nora’s side. “Danny’s smart and strong. He’s clever and thinks fast on his feet. He’s got asthma though so sometimes he’s limited physically but he always tries his best. He’s been my responsibility since we were kids.” That Charlie was answering was probably a sign Nora was forgiven for the bomb. But she had a suspicion that the blank expression on Charlie’s face also meant the bomb wasn’t forgotten.

“Sounds like a nice kid,” Nora told her.

“He is.” Her lips tightened in the light and she frowned. “He was going to shoot me. Neville, I mean. He knew who I was and wanted to shoot me but he took Danny.” She tilted her head and reached over to turn the squirrels. “Why do you think he did that?”

“Could be a lot of reasons,” Nora answered, rubbing her hands against her pants. “He only needed one of you, not both. Maybe he thought you’d be more trouble.”

“Maybe he hates women,” Aaron added from across the fire where he was playing with something shiny between his fingers.

“It could be that too,” Nora agreed and then, because she knew Charlie wouldn’t thank her for the protection, “Or because he likes boys.”

“Danny was bruised when I saw him. He probably tried to run.” There was anger on her face, the same sort of blank anger she’d had when talking to Miles earlier in the day. “I’ll kill Neville for that. Worse if he –“ She broke off her hands clenching over the fire.

“Charlie…” Aaron’s voice was quiet, broken. “We’ll get him back.”

“Yeah.” She relaxed back and sighed. “First we have to get a map. I don’t even know how far Philadelphia is from here. Then maybe we can see about trading for some horses. Or stealing, if we have to.”

“It’s about a month’s walk,” Miles announced as he wandered back to camp. “Food almost done?”

Charlie nodded at him, some of the tenseness going back into her shoulders as Miles got closer. “Give it another couple of minutes.” She reached over and turned the squirrels again, though Nora had a feeling it was more for something to do than any actual cooking necessity, before she looked at Miles. “What reason would Neville have for killing me and keeping Danny?”

Miles’s eyebrows went up a little in surprise. “He only needed one of you. Or he thought Danny was more likely to have answers Monroe needs than you do. Maybe he thinks Danny will get him more leverage.”

“Nate, or whoever he is, threw me off the train instead of killing me. Because I couldn’t fight Neville off, even when Danny knocked him over the head with something.” She looked over at Nora and then back at Miles. “While we’re moving, I need to learn more close-up fighting.”

“Miles is the saber expert,” Nora said slowly, not sure how much Charlie would like learning from her uncle right now. “And other knives. I’m the better shot and I know explosives.”

“Fine.” She raised her chin and stared hard at Miles. “We’ll start tomorrow when we stop for the night.”

“I won’t go easy on you,” Miles told her, his voice going harsh.

“When have you?”

Miles moved to sit on Charlie’s other side, reaching over to touch the fingerprint bruises on her neck. “You’ll have to learn to be vicious.”

“I can do that. I can be you, if I have to, if it’ll get me Danny back.”

The camp was silent after Charlie’s statement, aside from the crackling of the fire. “Charlie,” Aaron said and she shook her head. “Your dad –“

“He’s dead,” Charlie cut him off and reached up to knock Miles’s hand from her neck. “And he would have been useless right now even if he was here. He builds – built – but he can’t destroy. You know that, Aaron.” The other man looked away and swallowed which was as good an agreement as Nora figured Charlie would get. “And that’s what we’re going to be doing, isn’t it, Miles?” She looked over at her uncle and Nora watched his face close off. “You’re here to kill Monroe.”

“If you want Danny back, that’s probably what’s going to happen,” Miles said, his voice soft, just for Charlie’s ears. “We’ll be killing men I trained all the way there. We’ll be killing ‘Nate’ too.”

Nora wished, for Charlie’s sake, she could expect a protest at any of that. Instead, the girl just nodded. “That’s fine, Miles. After all, I’ve got the best role model for being good at killing right here, don’t I?” Charlie turned to the food and pulled the squirrels out of the fire. “Meat’s done.” She shoved one of the sticks into Nora’s hand and stood up, stalking around the fire to hand the second squirrel to Aaron.

“If that’s what you want,” Nora heard Miles whisper as he watched her turn her back on him. “But I really wish you didn’t.”


End file.
